You Save Me
by RobertDowneyJrLove
Summary: She saved him. There was no denying the fact that Pepper Potts saved Tony Stark. Set during and after the scene where Tony's arc reactor flashes when she calls his name. Tony/Pepper


_"When I'm a bullet, shot out of a gun;_  
_when I'm a firecracker coming undone._  
_When I'm a fugitive, ready to run,_  
_all wild-eyed and crazy._  
_No matter where my reckless soul,_  
_takes me._  
_Baby you save me."_

'You Save Me' – Kenny Chesney

* * *

He was still.

Too still, really. Laying there in a beaten up red and gold metal suit, scraped up from being tossed around on the roof like a rag-doll. His black hair is in complete disarray and his brown eyes are closed. The miniature arc-reactor flashed weakly, the blue light barely bright enough to break the inky blackness of the hauntingly stilled night. Since the battle between him and Obadiah Stane had ended, the night had gone complete still. His body was giving into the exhaustion; the warmth of an inky black abyss tugging his eyes closed and pulling him further into the unconsciousness that was creeping at the edges of his mind. Shoes crunch through glass but the sound is too muffled; he can't hear it properly to determine whether or not it's Pepper. His memory is weak but he manages to conjure a crystal clear image of the red-head with the baby blue eyes.

"_Tony, Tony..." _

The arc reactor thrums back to life with each call of his name. The buzz of electricity as his heart is restarted intensifies when his foggy mind registers the feel of soft, silky hands combing through his hair. Only this electricity isn't from the arc reactor at all, it's his body's own reaction to the feel of Pepper combing her fingers through his hair; scratching his scalp with her fingernails in order to keep him calm. She doesn't know that she's the only thing keeping him alive. The only thing giving him the will to live was hovering at his head, scratching his scalp lightly.

"Tony, stay with me, please!" Her voice is watery; thick with tears as she pleads with him to stay alive. "Please don't die on me!"

He can't.

His best friend. His world. Pepper. She was the reason he didn't want to die right now. Without her, he was nothing, whether he was alive or not. He can't live without her. Her hand stills on his head, fingers tangled in a mess of dark locks but the warmth is still there. She's still there. He can hear her voice, muffled and strained, frantically begging whoever is with her to get him out of the damn suit before the arc reactor stops completely and they lose him. Whatever she says works because in the next instant, the metal is falling away from his body and he can feel himself being lifted out of the red and gold shell that remains of his suit.

"Pep?" He can't seem to get the word out of his throat but he manages and his brown eyes blink open tiredly. His eyelids feel like lead weights and it takes every bit of strength he has to force them open and meet her teary blue eyes. "Pep, I have to tell you something."

"It can wait, Tony."

"No. I have to say this." He whispered hoarsely, letting his eyes close. His voice remained a barely audible whisper but the warm sincerity in his voice was not forced or fake. His voice was the most genuine she had ever heard and the next words out of his mouth brought on a fresh wave of tears. "You save me, Pep."

"Shh." She shushes him because she doesn't quite know how to respond. "I'll meet you at the hospital, okay, Tony?"

"Let Rhodey drive." Tony yawned heavily as an IV was inserted into his arm and the tingling warmth of pain medicine sloshed into his veins. "Please?"

"I've got her Tony." Rhodey spoke up, touching his best friend's arm briefly. "You just worry about getting to the hospital and getting through this."

Tony yawned again, barely humming in agreement as he finally drifted off. The paramedics made quick work of loading the stretcher into the medevac. Rhodey ushered Pepper off of the roof before the helicopter's rotors started up and the glass started flying. The emergency elevator seemed to take forever and when they finally got to the ground floor, crunching through the glass seemed like a cake-walk compared to what they had just gone through with Tony. Rhodey can't help but notice Pepper's current emotional state. She's had a steady stream of tears falling from her eyes for the past hour and her arms are crossed over her stomach as if she's protecting herself. The adrenaline surging through her is wearing off and her trembling is starting to make walking difficult. He doesn't say anything as he helps her into his truck and buckles her in, after watching her fumble with the seat-belt for a few minutes.

"Pepper," He broaches the subject with caution and only once they're on the road and she's incapable of getting out – not that she could get out if she wanted to, she's shaking far to much to be able to get out of his truck without falling. "Pepper, I want you to get checked out at the hospital."

"I'm fine, Rhodey."

"At least eat something or drink something. Your nerves are shot, Pepper." He insists, "I'll take you to the hospital so you can be with Tony and I'll go get us some real food. You have to eat something."

"He'll want a cheeseburger." She mumbled as he turned into the hospital emergency parking lot. "When he wakes up, he'll want a cheeseburger."

"Okay." Rhodey nodded, shifting the truck into park and reaching over to unbuckle her seat-belt. She manages to get out and into the hospital without trouble. When asked about Tony, they're given the floor-number and which waiting room is closest to his room. His doctor will have to give them more information. The elevator ride seems infinitely shorter than the one at Stark Industries had been. He keeps his hand hovering near Pepper's back as they rush to the waiting room.

The chairs are surprisingly comfortable and her heels come off as she sits down. A shaky breath escapes her as she buries her head in her hands and tries to steady herself before she has to see him. His words echo in her mind, like a broken record stuck on loop; _"You save me, Pep." _

"What did he tell you?" Rhodey's soft voice reaches her ear as he hands her a bag of Lay's Plain Potato Chips and a bottle of water. "Eat and drink, slowly."

"He told me..." She dropped the bottle in her lap and pulled the yellow and white foil bag open to get to the chips inside. The salty chips taste good and she suddenly realizes how long it's been since lunch. "He told me that I saved him."

"You did."

Rhodey knows she'll never believe him but he knows the truth. He knows what Tony had been like before Pepper had come along. The CEO had been a good business-man, but when he wasn't handling the company, he was a constant drunk. He had been ready to pull the trigger on his own life when Pepper had come in, fresh from accounting, pointed out a mistake that he had made and Tony had decided that he needed her in his life. He had offered her almost quadruple what she made, more benefits and the largest guest room in his mansion.

That was almost twelve years ago.

Now, you couldn't find them without each other. They were inseparable and sometimes he wonders if Tony maybe prefers it that way. He'd been on his own basically his whole life. Yes, he had a menagerie of care-takers but for the most part he learned to fend for himself so to have someone by his side constantly who could pick up the slack, may have been a great deal of comfort to Tony.

"You saved his life, Pepper." Rhodey told her softly. "How you did so is something that I'll let Tony explain when he's ready. It's a personal matter and one I'm surprised he hasn't shared with you yet but you did save him, Pepper. You save him everyday when you walk into the workshop or when you call him. He doesn't have very many people he can count on and tonight, he lost one of those people. The only person he's going to even consider turning too right now is the only person he feels he can trust and it isn't me. It's you."

She's about to respond but she can't seem to get the words out. She's still trying to process the information he's given her when a doctor enters asking for the family of Anthony Stark. Pepper inwardly cringes at the use of Tony's given name, knowing that he would hate it.

"She's the closest thing he has." Rhodey points to Pepper, who slips into her shoes and stands up to listen to what the doctor has to say about Tony's condition.

"Mister Stark sustained very few actual injuries. His nose is fractured but the fracture is hair-line and will heel within a few weeks. A minor abrasion to his temple required a good cleaning and a bandage." The doctor explained, before lowering his voice. "His chest implant is fairly weak but we've obtained the necessary technology to keep the shrapnel out of his heart until such a time as he can replace it. His medical records are strictly confidential and any and all evidence that he visited this hospital will be sent to Mister Stark's personal medical team."

"Can I see him?" Pepper asked the doctor quietly.

"He's in room two-oh-three." The doctor told her softly. "He's a little groggy but responsive. I think he'd like some company."

With that, the doctor left the waiting room. Pepper turned to Rhodey as if asking permission. He just laughed and motioned for her to go. "I'm going to go look around Stark Industries and see if I can find the stolen arc reactor and then I'll be back with some food."

"You're going to sneak food into a hospital?"

"As of right now, Anthony Stark is under strict military protection." Rhodey grinned slyly, "That blue thing in his chest requires complete doctor-patient confidentiality and military protection. No need for it to be stolen again."

Pepper just shook her head with a tired grin before starting off down the hall, bottle of water and chips in hand. She finds his room with relative ease and stands outside the door, taking a few deep breaths to steel herself against what she might find. She quietly opened the door and poked her head in, surprised to find him awake and staring at the door, as if willing someone to come in. She needs no encouragement to open the door further and move into the room.

"Hi Tony." Pepper sighs softly, blinking away the tears in her eyes, unable to believe she has any left.

"Pepper?" Tony's groggy question reminds Pepper that he's not quite fully conscious yet.

"It's me." She drops the bag of chips and the bottle of water on his bed-side table before moving to grab his hand, gently grazing her thumb over his knuckles.

"Hi." A lazy, exhausted grin tugs at his lips.

Pepper just laughs in exhausted relief at the sight of him, grinning and alive, despite being in a hospital bed. She's not sure if it's because she's sitting in a hospital room with him at two in the morning or maybe it's because he's alive and his smile is still that perfect combination of silly immaturity and wild sexiness that speaks of his reckless abandon but she's laughing.

"What's so funny?" His voice a breathy rasp, words slurring together slightly.

"I'm just glad you're okay." She stops laughing and takes his hand in both of hers. "You gave me quite a scare tonight, Tony."

"I know." Tony's sleepy smile falls from his lips and in it's place, a somber, less goofy expression befalls his dark, handsome features. "I'm sorry but you know...I wasn't scared. Even when I was laying on the roof dying.."

"You weren't dying." She corrects him, even though she know she's lying to herself and to him. If she admits it, that means it's real and she can't deal with the reality that he almost died. Not at two in the morning when she's functioning on a few chips and a few measly sips of odd-tasting vending-machine bottled water and what little adrenaline is still surging through her veins.

"Yes I was. You saw my arc reactor." Tony shakes his head. "You were the only one who gave me hope when I was dying on a fried rooftop. When I heard your voice and felt your hand...I wasn't scared because like it or not...you save me, Pepper."

"I don't save you, Tony."

"You don't know how not true that is do you?" Tony chuckles despite the exhaustion. "Pepper you save me, even when you don't think you do. Even when you give up on me. At least when you give up on me, I know that you cared enough to try...even if it didn't work."

"Tony - "

"Pepper, most of the time I'm like a bullet shot out of a gun. I'm fast, reckless and dangerous." Tony told her softly, "But no matter how fast or how reckless or how dangerous I get, you're always there. You're always that one person I can cling too. No matter what happens. No matter how much like an unraveling firecracker I become, you're always there."

"Tony, please - "

"Shh. Pepper, I'm reckless. Too reckless for most people but not you. You go along for the ride, as if you getting hurt or not is not important. You're there. No matter what happens, I know you're always there." Tony whispered softly. "Pepper, you save me..I don't know how but you do."

"You save me too, Tony."

He squeezes her hand in earnest and smiles weakly, "One more thing."

"Tony you need to rest." Pepper's protests are futile and ignored.

"I lost Obadiah Stane. Lost him as my business-partner and as my friend because he sought more power than working for me could give him." Tony whispered, fighting back the tears stinging his eyes. "I lost him. But dammit, Pepper, you're my best friend and no matter what happens I want you to promise me that I won't lose you too."

"Tony - "

"Pepper, please?" Tony pleaded sadly. "Please promise?"

"I'm not going anywhere, Tony." Pepper smiled reassuringly, "I'm staying right here for as long as you need me."

"I'm going to need you for a long time." Tony teased her lightly.

"I'm okay with that." Pepper assured him.

He carefully slid over to one side of the bed and gently tugged Pepper's hand, motioning for her to crawl in beside him. She hesitantly slipped out of her heels and crawled into bed with him, careful not to hurt him. She gently tucked the covers around both of them as she settled her head on his shoulder and rested her palm on the arc reactor.

"Love you," His soft mumble into her hair made her smile and burrow deeper into him as sleep settled over both of them.

"I love you too, Tony."

And when Rhodey walked in later, a battered silver case in his hand, he doesn't wake them up or even pretend he's shocked by what he finds because he's been waiting for it. Instead, he simply sets the silver case down on the floor, against the wall closest to the door and takes one last look at them before closing the door and walking out, smiling at what he had seen.

Because, in the darkness of that hospital room, a blue light glows between two figures. Slipping between the fingers of a small hand. The once weak arc-reactor glowing brighter and stronger than it had been before.

Yes.

She did save him.


End file.
